Super Saiyan God Pictures (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods)

How about he takes it up to the next level! Goku is the Super Saiyan God, a power beyond that of the Super Saiyan 3! He has red hair, red eyes, and what looks to be an even more sparkly gold aura. The Super Saiyan God pictures, or rather scans, come from the latest issue of V-Jump. There is also an interview with Akira Toriyama. Translation coming soon to this post.
(Anime, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods)

Not really a fair judgment, considering we don't really SEE the form in full.

We've got a close-cropped shot of his face, revealing red eyes and red hair--that seems to be tinged gold at the tips--going up like in normal SSJ form... and another pick of Goku, also close-cropped, with red eyes and red hair in his normal style.

Waaaay too soon to judge. It would certainly fit if the "god" for was more "normal" that the increasingly bestial SSJ3 and SSJ4 forms... Toriyama has always had that theme going--increasingly powerful forms get bigger and uglier, but the final form is always small, compact and simple. See Frieza, Cell, USSJ, Buu, Gohan, etc.

I've been a Dragon Ball fan since I was a kid, defended pretty much everything about it, but Toriyama has really been screwing up recently. He turned Vegeta into a bumbling idiot for Goku to mock in Yo Goku, made that completely nonsensical story in the new bardock movie, and now he is screwing with the story even more by making "Gods" even though the Kais were already the gods of the Z universe. The new SSJ form is very bland. Looks like goku with kaioken and doesn't transition from ssj3 well at all. I honestly don't see how this can be canon at all. SSj4 is the true pinnacle of super saiyan, not this nonsense.

I hate to say it (I really do), but Toriyama should have stayed retired. He is completely destoying the best part of my childhood by selling out Z.

Honestly, I like the new look. At first glance, I was thinking the same thing. Then, I actually looked at it. His hair is more defined and red, he has a more fiery aura rather than an aura that's just simple. It also looks like his laid back attitude is completely gone, and he has the look of a person that "means business"(referring to the right picture of the scan). Also, the SSJ God can also be a base form of a level that can be raised to higher levels(SSJG2,3 etc.) which leads me to believe that Akira Toriyama might be starting a new DBZ saga sometime in the future after the movie. We'll have to wait and see, also remember that this is Akira Toriyama we're talking about so he won't disappoint.

Sometimes the biggest transformations are the most subtle. I know you guys follow DBZ very closely and has seen various transformations. Now think about the transformations in the series that weren't the most dramatic changes in appearance, but were the most powerful.

Piccolo's Fusions with Nail/Kami - no visual change Frieza's Final Form - smaller and simplified Cell's Final Form - dignified and streamlined Gohan's Mystic Form - no visual change

Sometimes taking simplified approach is a good thing. Otherwise the same idea can keep going in the same direction and eventually lead to...well...this. --> http://i32.photobucket.com/...

This is actually something I would expect Akira Toriyama would do. Make something that's familiar, without it looking like fan fiction you see everywhere on the internet.